Before we get to the game preview, lets first find out what in the world the CIT is. The CIT tournament is put on by CollegeInsider.com Basketball Tournament. 2011 is the third year of the CIT tournament and will feature 24 teams. With the addition of the CIT and the expansion of the NCAA field there are now 136 D-1 schools that participate in a postseason tournament. All of the CIT games are played at campus sites. Teams are seeded with the high seeds being the host schools.
While I haven't seen the seedings for the 24 teams, doing a little research I've come across too very different numbers in how much it cost to host a CIT tournament game ($30,500-$50,000) to host a game (the CBI was more expensive, and I'm just assuming could be the reason VU went with the CIT). Valpo is obvsiouly not in it to make money since they averaged just under 3500 fans per game. Students will get in free for the game Wednesday night while the rest of us will be charged $10 a ticket. Clearly, Valpo will lost some money on this, so they must expect the team to go far and for this to somehow help their recruiting effort in the future.
Besides Valpo and Iona the rest of the 22 teams competing in the CIT are: Buffalo @ Quinnipiac (?), Ohio @ Marshall, Jacksonville @ East Carolina, Rider (?) @ Northern Iowa, North Dakota @ Air Force, Northern Arizona @ Santa Clara, Portland @ Hawaii, Tennessee Tech @ Western Michigan, Oral Roberts @ SMU, and Idaho @ San Fransisco. Just looking at the names, I have to say, I like Valpo's odds at making a long run in this tournament. I'm not sure a CIT Championship would be ARC banner worthy (maybe the Hilltop Gym), but it will be nice to see the three seniors play a few more games and to add a trophy to the case.
I hope Valpo destroys Iona! Iona and Rider are MAAC rivals, and Iona won two out of three games with Rider this season.
ReplyDeleteI am a Rider alumnus and basketball season-ticketholder, so I am very excited that the Broncs were selected to compete in a postseason tournament (the CIT). Hopefully, they will get the opportunity to play games on their home court if they advance. They are 14-5 on the road, which includes an 11-4 away record and a 3-1 record at neutral sites. I think they have a great chance of winning their first-round game at Northern Iowa Tuesday night, and can make a serious run at the CIT title.
I hope you are right and we whip on Iona as well! haha. I honestly had never heard of Rider, I suppose that is one of the good things about these smaller postseason tournaments you get to see/face schools that you've never met before. Rider must be pretty tough to have such a good road record. It is a good thing for Valpo fans that we got a home game our guys play pretty well at the ARC.
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